Beyond the WhaleWe made it through the “Whale”, the passage outside the protected reefs on the Bahama Bank to enter the Sea of Abaco. We are now not far from any of the various ports on this protected sea, including Marsh Harbor, our final destination.

Taming the WhaleBefore leaving Green Turtle Cay, we had read an article (kindly posted on the wall of the Bluff House) about a boat that had capsized in the Whale Cay Passage 20 years ago, losing 2 of its crew, on an otherwise beautiful day in the Abacos. The exposed Whale was being affected by a large storm well north in the Atlantic, which created 25 foot waves, while the interior islands experienced a mild 10-15 knots of wind. They call this a “rage” sea, and these are taken seriously, as evidenced by the damage a similar rage sea did to the sea wall at Spanish Cay, in the picture below.

When we awoke last Wednesday morning, the day was as calm as we have seen in a couple of weeks. We were optimistic that this would be the day we could make the passage around Whale Cay. The day before had been rough, and we were among a dozen or more boats that had elected to wait it out for calmer seas. Not too be over-confident, we waited for the morning Cruisers Net report, which reported that the Whale was indeed calm.

We couldn’t have timed our passage better. The swells outside the Whale Cut were so gentle and the water so still, we could see the bottom in the 40+ foot water beneath us as it glided by. Even with this flat sea, the waves breaking not too far away on Whale Cay were a reminder that this can be treacherous under different conditions.

Bakers Bay, Great Guana Cay

We anchored shortly after passing back into the Sea of Abaco at the northern end of Great Guana Cay, in Bakers Bay. This used to be the “private island” for a cruise ship (The Big Red Boat), but was abandoned after just a few years, because so many stops had to be cancelled due to bad sea conditions (i.e., the Whale).

The amazingly calm day allowed both Dave at the bow and Cathy at the helm to watch the anchor on the bottom as it landed on its side and then swung around and dug in. It was amazing to see what was really happening when we had only been able to guess before. Everyone learning to anchor should get a chance to do it in these conditions to get a sense of what is actually happening. Up to now, anchoring in murky waters (and spared evidence to the contrary), we would usually guess optimistically that everything was fine. With the light winds, seeing the anchor on its side, it was obvious that Cathy had to actively back down on the anchor with some force to get the anchor to swing into a position where it would dig in.

This was also the first really warm day since we had arrived in the Bahamas, so the water looked inviting enough for a swim. Dave made it a “working swim”, diving on the anchor, cleaning the bottom, and checking the zinc. After initially declaring the sacrificial zinc on the propeller to be “just fine”, upon further inspection he realized that the zinc was far from fine. It was gone. (This is the second time we have gone to replace it in the past 3 months where it was completely gone.) For the first time, the water clarity allowed Dave to replace the zinc himself.

We also took advantage of the weather to refinish the teak in the cockpit and the swim platform. This meant that we couldn’t do too much else. We did manage to crawl over the teak carefully so we could take the dinghy to the nearby “shell island” created from the dredging of the channel for the cruise ship. It has a nice beach with tons of shells, mostly small, but still intact and beautiful.

The Bakers Bay anchorage is in the midst of some controversial re-development of a new resort, which is to include a marina, golf course and villas. There is concern that this will damage the Great Guana Cay reef. There is an active opposition to the development (see www.saveguanacayreef.com). We could see the dredging barges nearby as we anchored there, which was the only negative to this wonderful anchorage.

Settlement Point, Great Guana Cay

Since the winds were predicted to increase and shift to a direction that would make Bakers Bay uncomfortable, we decided to move further south to Great Guana Cay’s more-protected Settlement Point. (Bonnie Lass had left the day before for Treasure Cay to see to some engine repairs. We plan to hook up again once they are done.) We picked up the last available mooring ball in the harbor in the shallowest water we have yet seen. At the extreme low tides being driven by the new moon, we should have technically been aground, since the depth sounder was reading 3’ 6”. We add 2 feet for the distance from the meter to the water line, which gives us our fully-loaded draft of 5’ 6”. Ouch!The worst part is that the anchor for the mooring ball is a 3 x 3 x 3 foot cube of concrete, and there is an out-of-place mooring ball immediately in front of us. Should the wind shift to a northerly direction, we will swing on top of the concrete block, which is not something we want to do. As soon as a deeper water mooring ball is available, we planned to move -- before the wind shifted.

Despite the low water, we decided to stay, so explored the island, including the famous bar, Nippers. In addition to its restaurant and bar, it also has a freshwater pool, which felt great after a long walk on the Atlantic beach which Nippers overlooks. On Sunday, we enjoyed an all-you-can-eat pig roast at Nippers, which perhaps is intended to describe those of us partaking in it as well as the beast we were eating. It was good.

Marsh Harbor Anchorage

Marsh Harbor – that toddlin’ town

On Monday (Feb. 27), we moved from Guana Cay to Marsh Harbor, the largest town in the eastern Abacos. It has a large, busy harbor, with a lot of boats anchored there. We managed to squeeze in the first night, but were able to re-position in a bigger space the next morning when many boats left. We re-connected with White Bird, who were also anchored in the harbor. They joined us on board shortly after arrival. Joanne from White Bird gave us a walking tour of the town, which is a good place to re-provision with multiple large grocery stores, hardware stores and other shopping available. In general, this is the place to get what you need or have it shipped to. For the most part, the prices are double what they would be in the US, with the exception of some staples, like butter, cheese, and eggs. Of course, some non-food items are very similar to the US, such as diesel, slip fees, and (very important) mixed drinks.

With the help of Joanne, we also discovered 2 different Happy Hours, where we got to enjoy some good food and company. At one of the events, the cruisers bring their own food, and the bar/restaurant offers discounted drinks, a novel idea that brought out a lot of people. We also discovered Café La Florence, a small café / bakery where we had a delicious cinnamon bun. Apparently, they are famous. Florence, the owner’s mother-in-law, has been making them for 20 years. We also tried chicken souse there, a traditional Bahamian breakfast stew, complete with whole chicken wings. Different. Dave made friends with the owner and even conned Cathy into making an announcement about them on the Cruisers Net. She actually generated some business for them. It could be a new career. (Well, maybe not.)

Being such a busy harbor, we kept running into other boaters we’ve met before. The most unexpected was the couple from Bum’s Rest, whom we had met back in Georgetown, SC before Thanksgiving. We also saw Kokopelli and Valhalla (a trawler from Riviera Beach). Valhalla was kind enough to be the recipient of a Fed-Ex package for us. It contained tax-related mail, allowing us to figure out our taxes, so we don’t run afoul of the IRS. We are still talking to Bonnie Lass, but don’t expect to re-connect with them for another few days. On Saturday, we met 2 couples for lunch that had been down for the week chartering a catamaran. Bob was a member of the Power Squadron in MD and had inspected our boat back in Solomons. We kept in touch and were glad to see them after so many months (and miles).

Kokopelli at anchor in Baker's Bay

Cruisers NetEvery morning at 8:15 we listen in on the cruisers net, broadcast on VHF 68 by local boaters who give weather, news, announcements , current passage conditions and invitations to area events. It is a critical link to information in the Abacos. It was also where we learned that Kokopelli, the buddy boat for our friends from LunaSea on their journey from the Chesapeake to the Bahamas, was in the area. They actually joined us in the Bakers Bay anchorage for one of the nights there.

Does someone smell smoke?Shortly after arriving at Settlement Point, Dave was trying the computer out to see if we could once again connect to the internet, since we'd been suffering withdrawal from lack of access since leaving Green Turtle. Sure enough, he was able to connect, but shortly after giving the computer over to Cathy, she noticed smoke emitting from the power connection into the PC. (Honestly, I didn't do anything!) Dave discovered the connector on our DC cord, which had been giving us problems had shorted out and blown a fuse. Luckily, we had another connector on board, that he was able to use to repair the power cord. Whew! I don't know what we would do without the PC. That's scarier than the shallow water and the concrete block!

Hanging Out

We’re not sure what our next stop will be as we consider our options. We may stay in Marsh Harbor longer, but there are still more places we want to visit before we start our journey back in a few weeks. As they say on the Cruisers Net, it’s always a great day in the Abacos.

As planned, we left Spanish Cay for Green Turtle Cay on Thursday (Feb. 15th). It is a short trip (about 20 nm), but we needed to plan our arrival for high tide, since the entrance channel is very shallow and will only accommodate Orion’s 5.5’ draft at high tide. Our plan was to leave at noon, arriving just in time to enter the channel, but the winds at Spanish Cay were making us nervous about our departure there. When they let up a bit around 11am, we took advantage of the break to make an easier exit. We sailed on a broad reach (i.e with the wind behind us) with just our headsail, but we were going too fast. We arrived about 2 hours early and, since the marina insisted we wouldn’t make it until high tide, we waited outside the entrance for the tide. Bonnie Lass dropped the hook, but we decided to sail around until the time came to enter. The channel was shallow, but there was always a foot or more below the keel. What quickly became obvious was that the bigger concern was going to be getting into the slip. The Bluff House Marina slips are at an angle with virtually no finger pier (obviously designed more for power boats than sailboats). This meant there was going to be little help from the dock hands. Also the wind was 15 knots on our beam (i.e. side) as we entered the slip. It was going to be critical that we snagged the windward piling on the way in. Bonnie Lass entered first, but had 3 failed attempts. Before she headed in for her fourth attempt, we quickly slipped in. Dave snagged the critical piling, making our first attempt a success. We were now in a position to catch a line from Bonnie Lass and she finally made it in. Graham said it was his worst experience at docking. He had been ready to anchor if the last attempt hadn’t succeeded.

Bluff House Lodge

Bluff House MarinaThe stress of docking soon melted away, as we began to explore the amenities of the Bluff House Marina. Because this is their slow season, they have a “Docking for Dollars” promotion where you can offset your slip fees with purchases elsewhere at the resort, including the restaurant, bar, gift shop, and even the Laundromat. It didn’t take us long to start spending our reserve. The first night we had drinks in a cozy lounge at the Bluff House Inn at the top of the hill behind the marina, followed by dinner at the restaurant. Everything was delicious and the wait staff was friendly and welcoming.

One of the drinks we were encouraged to try was a unique local drink called a Gumbay Smash. When we asked what was in it, the bartender said she couldn’t tell us. Undeterred, Dave had one anyway. It was good, but strong. We were told that when we toured New Plymouth, the town on the island, we should go to Emily's Blue Bee Bar, where the drink was invented and have an original.

The next day, the Jolly Roger Restaurant and Bar down by the marina, opened for the season. This was where we ate the following nights.

New Plymouth SettlementWe toured the town of New Plymouth the next day. It was our first chance to tour a more remote Bahamian town. The streets were narrow and therefore mostly one way. They were shared by cars and golf carts, not to mention the many dogs, cats and roosters that roamed the town. The buildings were various pastel colors that made it all very charming.

There were 3 groceries stores, 2 hardware stores and a liquor store, which we visited to get a reading on the price of supplies in the Bahamas, should we need anything. The best prices were on rum (of course) and surprisingly, butter. Both of these were cheaper than in the states. We tried the “original” Gumbay Smash at Ellie’s Blue Bee, which was decorated with signed T-shirts, papered with business cards and graffiti from years of former customers. We also had some delicious “cracked conch” that we ate sitting on the sea wall.

The Bahamas received a large number of loyalists after the American Revolutionary War, whose population became the pioneers that settled many of the Bahamian out islands. In the center of town, a memorial garden was erected to honor these loyalists. The writing on the central statue depicted a slightly different picture of the revolution and its aftermath than the one that we learn in our American history classes. History is written by the victors, as they say.

Windy WeatherWe had come to Green Turtle Cay anticipating some windy weather – gale force, actually – forecast for Sunday. The winds were up before then as well (as evidenced in our docking), with another gusty day on Friday, our second day in port. This didn’t deter us from visiting New Plymouth by dinghy on Friday, having rejected the option of walking or biking the 4 miles. This would allow Val to use one of our bikes, so she and Graham could bike into town. However, we’ve made better decisions than this one.

The winds were at our back on the way to town, but the trip was still bumpy. The weather was forecast to get windier, so Cathy was nervous about the trip back. We had to leave the protection of our harbor to go around the point to New Plymouth, exposing us to the bigger waves of the Bighy of Abaco. Since we didn’t know exactly where we were going ( the tourist map in Cathy’s pocket didn’t exactly qualify as a chart) we made some false turns on our way there. We finally entered what looked like the right harbor, but as we tried to sort out where we were supposed to land, we found ourselves plowing up the bottom. It wasn’t clear what the shortest path to deeper water was, but the wind seemed to be blowing us toward the channel – sort of. We began hand-paddling in the direction of the channel, when it became clear we should use the oars. (Yeah, that’s what we lug them around for.) However, as Dave was unstrapping them, a piece fell in the water, so we had to focus on retrieving that first. We finally made it to deep water and the dock. Meanwhile Cathy is thinking that this doesn’t bode well for our return.

As we toured the pleasant little town, the buildings were blocking the increasing wind strength, giving us a false sense of security. Sure enough, as we headed back to the dinghy, we could see white caps on the water. We pulled away into the wind and were soon getting waves washing over the bow. Cathy tried to look where we were going, but was soon getting so many waves in the face that her eyes were stinging from the salt water. We were both soaked through before even leaving the harbor and the dinghy was filling with water. Cathy wasn’t loosening her grip on the dinghy to assist with bailing, so we just kept plowing into the wind, as Dave bravely took a beating, since he didn’t have the luxury of looking away from the breaking waves. The only good news was that the water was warmer than the air, so it actually warmed us up slightly with each dousing.

We finally made the turn for the more protected channel into White Sound and the waves began calming down. Cathy started the process of bailing, all the while wondering why we didn’t use the drain plug. It wasn’t the right moment to bring it up though. We finally returned to the boat and a welcome hot shower. Good thing today was laundry day.

Friday’s winds were followed by an incredibly calm day on Saturday, but Sunday lived up to its ugly forecast. The winds started to build overnight and by mid-morning they were steady at 25knots. Around noon, as they continued to increase, the anchored boats in the harbor started swinging violently and 3 or more starting dragging anchor. Graham and another boater from the marina jumped in their dinghy to go help one boat, which was being single-handed and had also lost control of its boom. While they helped him retrieve his 2 anchors and pick up a mooring ball, another trawler sounded a horn because it was in danger of crashing up against the rocks. His neighbor dinghied over to help, but it finally required another boater to assist them in getting their anchor set in a better location.

As these 2 boats were finally secured, a trawler was headed up the channel toward our marina. We were in awe that someone was actually traveling on a miserable day like this one. Once they had tied up securely, the captain said, “Is it OK if I kiss the ground?”

Needless to say, we were glad we were securely tied to the dock.

Moving On - The "Whale"We plan to move further south once the winds die down, but we must go around Whale Cay, which means a brief trip (about 2nm) “outside” the protection of the barrier islands into the Atlantic. This short passage can be treacherous due to conditions far out in the Atlantic, so needs to be approached with caution. We will wait for the right conditions and head farther south to Great Guana Cay.

We first headed south toward the Whale Cay Passage on Tuesday (Feb. 20th), but turned back when we couldn't get a report of anyone actually traversing the passage. One small boat turned back, so we decided to do the same and instead anchored out. We backtracked a few miles and tucked in at Manjack Cay, along with about a dozen other boats, many of whom had made the same decision. We hooked up with another friend of Bonnie Lass, Frank on Jubilee, a 20 foot Flicka. They had met at West End, just after crossing from Florida. Frank played taxi service and shuttled us over to Bonnie Lass, where we enjoyed the beautiful sunset and good company. Bill, the owner of the house on the island, came out to chat. He knew most of the boaters in the harbor and could tell you where they were from and where they were headed. We were surprised at how welcoming they were to the many cruisers coming through the area. They even provide an wireless internet connection that reaches well out into the harbor (which is the source of this update).

Frank described how beautiful Bill and Leslie's house and grounds were due to all the hard work they had put in over the 15 years they lived here. This is just one of the many places to explore on Manjack Cay. We won't get the chance this time, but look forward to returning here on our way back from Marsh Harbor.

But, for now, we are headed south, once more attempting to go through the Whale. We hope for better luck today, which is the first completely calm moring we have had in quite a while. It looks like a "go"

We Made It!We crossed from Riviera Beach to West End on Grand Bahama Island in light winds and calm seas in about 10 hours on Friday, Feb. 10th. We hooked up with about 5 other boats headed to the same port. It was a beautiful day for crossing and much, much better than our last ocean voyage.

Sunrise over the ocean

The Crossing

Worried that the good weather might disappear, we decided not to wait for our mail and got prepared to leave for the Bahamas early in the morning on Friday. Thursday evening, Cathy made a general call on VHF to boats in the area planning to cross to the Bahamas the next day. Ciao and Kokomis responded and we made a plan to leave the next morning at 5am. It would still be dark when we left, but we could navigate the well-lit inlet in the dark. However, on the other end, it would get us into West End by mid-afternoon, giving us better visibility to the water depth (the sun angle is not too low) as we navigated the narrow, rocky channel into the marina.

We were the first of our group out the inlet into the ocean. The swells were gentle, but were coming at us on our beam (i.e., broadside), which made for some discomfort in the rolling. However, the biggest waves were probably no more than 4 feet, and the wave frequency was such that it wasn’t too bouncy.

We entered the Gulf Stream very soon after leaving the inlet, since the western wall was only 7 miles out. That meant we didn’t have much time compensate for its strong northerly current. Just past the Lake Worth sea buoy (the inlet’s outer marker), we pointed south of our course line to try to position ourselves better for the northerly push the Gulf Stream would soon give us. However, it wasn’t long before we found ourselves drifting north of the route line from the strong current. We finally decided to steer toward our route line and keep adjusting our compass heading to keep on the route line. We were out of the strongest effects of the Gulf Stream by mid-day.

The winds were “on the nose” from the southeast most of the day, so we couldn’t even use our genoa for any additional power. However, we averaged almost 6 knots for the trip across, arriving just after 3pm in our slip at Old Bahama Bay Marina.

Beach at Old Bahama Bay Resort at West End

Bahamian Courtesy Flag on Orion

Clearing CustomsThe Customs office was closed when we arrived, but would re-open at 4pm. This gave Dave time to finish adjusting the dock lines and check-in at the marina, while Cathy spent the time filling out the numerous forms for both Customs and Immigration. Since the boat was under quarantine until we checked in via Customs (we have to display a yellow quarantine flag while we wait), Cathy stayed on board to put things away, while Dave (as captain, at least on paper), went to clear Bahamian customs.Dave described the Customs clearing process as being “tag-teamed”. Multiple agents from Customs and Immigration asking questions and having him complete more forms (Cathy missed 2 in the packet). He answered the question about our length of stay perhaps a little too literally, saying that we might fly back to the US for a brief trip to do our taxes. For that reason, our immigration forms were authorized only through March 31st. We’ll deal with that later if we have to. At any rate we paid our $300 (in cash of course) and got our clearance to replace our quarantine flag with a Bahamian courtesy flag.

We were officially in the Bahamas.

Orion at West End

Crossing CompanyDave was done with Customs and Immigration in 15 minutes, which gave us time to send a quick e-mail that we had arrived and to join the other boaters at a Managers Special cocktail party at the bar on the resort beach. It was a beautiful way to end the day, getting to meet in person our traveling companions. And the complimentary drinks and h’or d’ouvres weren’t too bad either.

Ciao, Island Time and I Dunno (3 boats that had joined us in crossing) were there and toasted our first crossing to the Bahamas. They were planning on moving further south in the next day or so to Nassau and the Exumas, and we were planning on staying in the Abacos, the northern islands in the Bahamas. So, we spoke to Kokomis (our other crossing companion) , who was now our neighbor on the dock. They were planning on heading north across the Little Bahama Bank to Great Sale Cay and eventually to Marsh Harbor. Since that was our direction, we decided to travel together.

They agreed to lead the way, since we were skittish about traveling the shorter, but much shallower route through Indian Cay Channel by Indian Rock (ominous name, isn’t it?). Since Kokomis draft only 4 ½ feet, they could give us warning if any depths appeared too shallow for us at 5 ½ feet. We decided to leave around 10am the next morning , so we would be on a rising tide, and it would make a short day of it, heading only to Mangrove Cay about 27 miles away. The next morning, Bonnie Lass also decided to join us for the trip, which proved to be uneventful, although the clear water made the shallow depths a little unnerving.

As we approached Mangrove Cay, Kokomis decided to head on to Great Sale Cay in one day, to make better progress toward Marsh Harbor. So it was just Bonnie Lass, one other boat and us at Mangrove Cay. A big difference from the crowded anchorages along the ICW.

Sunset at Mangrove Cay

Orion under sail to Great Sale Cay

We're Actually SailingLeaving Mangrove Cay the next morning, we headed for Great Sale Cay, another stop on the Little Bahama Bank. The winds were 10-15kt form the southeast, making for a great direction for sailing. (Maybe they should call it Great Sail Cay.) We unfurled the sails and turned off the motor, managing to sail all the way there. The last time we’d traveled under sail alone was back in the Chesapeake in October. We almost forgot how to do it.

We could never quite catch Bonnie Lass, though. Every time we got close, she pulled away from us. It must have been their turbo-boost option.

Orion's anchor bridle

Is that our anchor down there?We had been told to expect the clear water, but it was an amazing thing to be able to follow your anchor chain through the water all the way from the boat to the anchor. At Mangrove Cay, the water was calm enough to easily follow the chain through the sand. We launched the dinghy and rode over the chain to the anchor to be sure it was set properly. This didn’t work as well at Great Sail Cay, where the water was much choppier.

Spanish Cay

We’ve been waiting out the high winds at Spanish Cay Marina, which is our first time to explore a Bahamian barrier island. It has beautiful beaches on the Atlantic side of the island, protected by a distant reef. On the western side is the marina, with its beautiful views of the Bight of Abaco. The Marina grounds are idyllic, with a pool and hot tub overlooking the water, where we enjoyed drinks at the end of the day.

There are very few people on the island. Since it is the winter season, we are joined by only a 3 or 4 other boats in a marina that can hold 80. There are few marina workers, most of whom arrive by boat every morning and return home every afternoon. The island is owned by the resort and there are only 2 or 3 staff who live here this time of year. It is unbelievably quiet and peaceful.

However, there is still internet connection, allowing us to communicate our continued existence to the outside world, thanks to the technology of Cathy's former company, DirecWay (aka HughesNet) from Hughes Network Systems.

We continue to travel with Bonnie Lass. Graham and Val are great fun and have been welcome company as we both explore this area for the first time. We’ve met the few other boaters who’ve come in to the marina as well, including a couple of Germans who were attempting to take their boat from Treasure Cay to the US for eventual transport to Germany. The weather wasn’t cooperating, so they returned to Treasure Cay, inviting us to visit them when we got that far.

We expect to leave here on Thursday (Feb. 15th) and head to Manjack Cay and then Green Turtle Cay the next day if the winds cooperate. (We need to enter Green Turtle Cay on a rising tide due to its shallow depths. Stopping at Manjack will allow us to do this early in the morning high tide.) There, we will wait out another series of high wind days, exploring this more populated island.

Since we are only about 60 miles north of Miami, we were experiencing pretty much the same nasty weather on Super Bowl Sunday that everyone saw on TV. It was hard to believe that night that we would ever see calm winds and clear skies for our crossing. I think they said it was the rainiest Super Bowl ever.However, light winds and calm seas finally arrived on Wednesday and are expected to last through the weekend, so the Gulf Stream is calm enough to have a smooth crossing. We've heard radio reports of those who have left already to cross to the Bahamas, and they were seeing only gentle swells and light winds. We hope we will be so lucky. As soon as some anticipated mail packages arrive, we will be off.

All Charged Up

Dave decided to celebrate his birthday by installing a new battery charger for the shore power hookup.

The existing one, a 20 amp Sentry model which came with the boat, had been identified as a possible cause of our many starting battery problems. Dave spoke to a local marine electrician about the symptoms he had seen and the specific equipment on our boat. The electrician confirmed that this Sentry model was problematic and that a bad diode was likely the source of the problem. He also closed the door on the possibility of repairing the existing unit, which was not possible due to its design.

While shopping at his favorite store, eBay, Dave found a great deal on a reconditioned Xantrex battery charger. He was able to replace the existing unit with the new one in a couple of hours. It actually took longer to locate the various components to mount it (a larger piece of wood, some 14 gauge ground wire, connectors, etc.), than it did to install. The unit powered up successfully and has been charging the batteries for the past week.

Given the problems with the old charger, combined with some low voltage readings on the fully-charged house bank, Dave decided to use the new charger to equalize the batteries. The first attempt was disappointing in its results. However, with our continued wait for the weather, he attempted it a second time with better results.

How's that for a birthday present?

What's the weather?We hooked up with another boat in the marina, Valhalla, who were also waiting for good crossing weather. They had access to weather information from Chris Parker and also pointed Dave to the availability of electronic GRIB files. These files can be displayed using our Fugawi navigation software, where they show some dramatic time-phased wind and wave conditions. The files are huge (~40Mb), but they have helped us zero in on the crossing window.

Tidying upBetween crossword puzzles, Cathy managed to find time to polish the stainless steel railings and other hardware on the deck, which needs a protective coating from all the salt water and salty air.

She also removed the oh-so-attractive electrical tape that marked the centerline on the steering wheel and replaced it with a Turk's Head knot, which looks a little more nautical.

UpdatesIt's hard to say how our internet connection will work in the Bahamas, so updates to the website will be made whenever we can. Keep looking for us. If you're on our distribution list, we will still let you know when we make an update. .